


Honeymoon

by SonjaJade



Series: Bee Stings and Honey [5]
Category: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Childbirth, F/M, Happily Ever After, Post-Canon, Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-12
Updated: 2020-06-12
Packaged: 2021-03-03 23:49:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,295
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24674137
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SonjaJade/pseuds/SonjaJade
Summary: Roy and Riza finally accomplish their goals, and move past their military and political lives to finally start an ordinary life together.
Relationships: Riza Hawkeye/Roy Mustang
Series: Bee Stings and Honey [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1795597
Comments: 3
Kudos: 37





	Honeymoon

**Author's Note:**

> Royai Week 2020 Day 5: Image prompt (image below)  
> Continuation and conclusion of my previous 4 entries.

..

The rebuild of Ishval is complete. Roy made it to the Fuhrer’s seat. They are able to show affection to one another anywhere they want and were married in a very public and lavish wedding. Power has been restored to the Amestrian Parliament. The Ishvalan War Crime Trials have been held and sentences handed down.

And they made it out on the other side of it all, alive, and together.

The High Court chose not to execute anyone, after Yousef Labibi, the Prime Minister of Ishval begged that no more blood be lost over the conflict. Many have been imprisoned for life. Some are given shorter sentences. As for Roy and Riza, the Prime Minister noted their passion and enthusiasm while overseeing the reconstruction and asked that the court recognize their actions and work for time already served. That alone cleared Riza’s sentence completely, but still left Roy with a ten year prison term. When Labibi insisted that Roy now really was the “Hero of Ishval”, the court decided to exile him rather than lock him up in Amestris, and Labibi insists they come stay in Ishval.

Now, the two of them live in a modest home in the desert, one with running water and the newest technology, air conditioning. Roy works under Col. Miles as an assistant during the day, then spends the evening working on his autobiography. Riza works in the office at the school in their district. She’s been doing paperwork so long that it’s second nature, and the other office workers appreciate her organization skills and efficiency. 

Their new lives are a bit of a culture shock at first. Old war dogs take a bit of time to learn new tricks, after all. But the peace of being able to truly live as husband and wife in public, to share a home and a life outside of a work environment, and to have children eases the transition quite a bit.

Riza’s ready to pop with her first pregnancy. The clinic insists walking will help speed things up so she can deliver sooner rather than later, but her hips ache and she can’t walk as far as she used to. Roy guides her to a bench overlooking an irrigation canal for a break.

“We can pretend it’s the ocean,” he says with a chuckle.

“I wish we could pretend this baby was here already!” she says with a sigh. She takes a drink from the canteen at her hip. “I can’t wait to be able to walk and breathe again!”

Roy’s hand rests against her taut stomach. “Come on out, little one! You’re already on your mama’s nerves!”

They share a laugh, then Roy puts his arm around her and gazes across the canal, rushing with clean water piped in from Aerugo. It glitters in the sunset, and Riza says, “We should’ve skipped the army and just started here, from this point. We spent a good chunk of our lives getting sidetracked with other things.”

Roy leans into her. “But we accomplished everything we set out to. And think of how much better off the world is for it.”

“You’re going to be nearly sixty when this child is out of school. If we’d started earlier, we wouldn’t be so old.”

“Yes, but we _changed the world_. We’ve made the world a better place to bring our child into.” He pauses to take a sip from her canteen. “Making history is time consuming.”

An ibis flies overhead before landing in the canal. Riza comments that she wishes it was a stork instead.

“I can’t wait to meet our baby,” Roy says.

Riza’s hand covers his. “Me, too. We’ve seen and brought enough death into our lives. It’s going to be incredible to bring new life into our world.” She sighs and says they should probably get back to walking.

“Just a minute longer,” Roy says. “Don’t you feel it?”

She turns her face to the setting sun, the sky now turning orange and red, with gold on every other visible surface. Smiling, she replies, “Yeah… It’s honey.”

They wait until the sun dips below the horizon before they walk back home, and in the middle of the night, Riza’s water breaks. The clinic sends a midwife to their house at once. Roy holds her hand throughout it all, encourages her, brings her water and wet cloths for her head. He brings her fruits to help keep her strength up, and when it’s time to push, he breathes along with her the way the midwife instructs.

Finally, before the sun goes down, a baby boy emerges from Riza’s womb. He’s pink, screaming the walls down, and has a swath of dark hair and balled up fists. He rests on his mother's belly while the midwife delivers the placenta and cleans Riza up. 

“Welcome home, Maes,” Roy coos, tears in his eyes as Riza catches her breath. His hand caresses his son’s goo-covered head and the cries quiet down. Maes’ eyes flutter open and give him a death glare and Roy can’t help the laugh that comes from his chest.

“You look like a wet cat!”

That gets an exhausted chuckle out of Riza and the midwife as well. He helps tie the cord off and cut it, and then Maes is taken to get a proper bath. Roy turns his attention to Riza, who looks absolutely wiped out.

“You did amazing, Riza. He’s absolutely perfect!”

She wipes her face one last time with the washcloth she’s been using to keep her cool, then asks him to help her sit up. “A blissful agony.”

“An oxymoron?” he asks as his hands rub at her back.

She hums in thought. “Bitter honey.”

Roy nods, completely understanding now. The midwife brings their son back to them, freshly bathed, powdered, diapered, and swaddled in a blanket. She shows Riza how to nurse him, leaves a pamphlet with important phone numbers and instructions to care for Riza’s body, then gathers her supplies, sees herself out and leaves them as a family.

Roy watches with awe as Maes eats his first meal. “No wonder Hughes was so over the moon about Elysia.”

“He’s so handsome,” Riza murmurs. “Look what we made, Roy.”

Roy puts his arm around her and kisses her while Maes fills his tiny belly. When he spits her nipple out, Riza hands him to Roy. 

“Hey, buddy!” he nearly whispers. “I’m so glad you finally made it!” Maes yawns and Roy nearly puddles into the floor. “You’re gonna kill me with how cute you are, you know that?”

“Of all the things you’ve encountered, _this_ is going to be your death?” Riza jokes.

“And I’d die happy. Well, not really. I wanna see him grow up and take the world by the balls someday.”

“Me, too.”

He shuffles Maes back to his mother. “I have about a thousand phone calls to make, and I imagine you both want to get some rest.” He kisses Riza, saying he’ll just be in the other room calling their friends and family if she needs anything. He watches her get comfortable, placing Maes in a basket made of wool that Winry sent as a gift. The basket is in Roy’s place on the bed and barricaded in with the back of the chair Roy was sitting in, making sure Maes can’t fall to the floor and Riza doesn’t have to get out of bed to get him.

Roy walks to the telephone in his study on footsteps that don’t feel as if they touch the ground. If kissing Riza all those years ago made him describe his feelings as warm honey, then this is nuclear honey. He sits down at his desk, grinning, and dials his aunt before anyone else.


End file.
